A Fresh New Year Means Fresh New Restrictions on Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers

From California to Washington, D.C., new restrictions on gas-powered landscaping equipment are blanketing the nation.

Like so many freshly fallen leaves, new restrictions on gas-powered landscaping equipment are blanketing the nation.

Washington, D.C., rang in the new year by implementing a prohibition on gas-powered leaf blowers that the city had passed in 2018. Beginning January 1, landscaping companies and individual lawn care enthusiasts alike are now subject to $500 fines for using gas-powered blowers in the city.

Just a few weeks prior, the California Air Resources Board (CARB)—the state's primary air pollution regulator—voted to ban the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers and lawnmowers beginning in 2024.

CARB's decision doesn't prevent the use of gas-powered landscaping devices. But an increasing number of cities in the state, including places like Oakland and Hayward, are going that mile by passing municipal bans this past year.

Leaf blowers' critics argue their noise and noxious emissions far outweigh the convenience they add to tidying lawns and clearing sidewalks.

"I hear from residents all of the time about the nuisance and the noise that is created. It prevents them from working and it prevents them enjoying the peace in their own homes," said D.C. City Councilmember Mary Cheh during a 2018 hearing on the city's then-proposed leaf blower ban.

A D.C. city council report from that year said that 170 municipalities restrict or ban gas-powered leaf blowers, and that list is only growing. At least 60 California municipalities have passed restrictions on these machines as of 2020.

This crusade for quieter neighborhoods is producing some exceptionally broadly written policies.

Take Princeton, New Jersey. In October 2021, the city passed an ordinance banning the use of "noise-creating gas-powered equipment, blowers, power fans or internal combustion engines" during early mornings and evenings, Sundays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's, and Fourth of July (lest the leaf blowers compete with the sound of booming fireworks). During the summer and winter months, gas-powered leaf blowers can't be used at all in Princeton.

That inclusion of "internal combustion engines" had a few Twitter posters musing about whether Princeton has also accidentally banned traditional gas-powered cars as well.

I was just re-reading the town of Princeton's new leafblower ordinance, and I think it may have been written so broadly as to *actually ban cars* after 8 pm and on Sunday mornings… (1/3)

— Central NJ Yimby ???????????????? (@YIMBY_Princeton) December 30, 2021

https://twitter.com/davidlnoll/status/1476712153092661250

"I can see why some might read it that way, but the new Princeton leafblower ordinance doesn't ban internal combustion cars," writes Gregory Shill, a professor at University of Iowa College of Law, in an email.

Shill tells Reason that because the general subject of the city's ordinance concerns the regulation of landscaping equipment, the legal principle of "ejusdem generis" means that catchall phrase about "internal combustion engines" shouldn't be interpreted as limiting the use of literally all gas-powered engines in the city.

"In sum, this is good news for Princeton residents who were worried about their gas-powered cars," he says.

Nevertheless, these more limited restrictions are provoking complaints of overreach from the landscaping industry, who argue that emissionless electric-powered leaf blowers they're being shifted toward aren't adequate substitutes.

One industry representative cited by the Los Angeles Times said that a three-person landscaping crew would need to carry 30 to 40 fully charged batteries to power its equipment during a full day's work.

A D.C. city government report notes that most battery-powered leaf blowers can only operate for about 10–15 minutes at full power (or an hour at lower-power settings) and that corded leaf blowers often lacked the range needed for commercial-scale landscaping.

"While excellent for homeowner use, electric-powered blowers on the market today do not have sufficient power or duration to replace gasoline engines for professional use," Bob Mann, a representative of National Association of Landscape Professionals, told the D.C. city council when it was considering its ban.

In addition to the burdens placed on businesses, gas leaf blower bans also have a more visceral cost.

As I wrote in 2020, "a well-manicured lawn, maintained by loud, gas-guzzling machines, has long been a symbol of freedom, prosperity, and the American dream."

Clearly policy makers are increasingly willing to sacrifice that part of the American dream for a little more street-level domestic tranquility.

Comments

[Minadin]

“One industry representative cited by the Los Angeles Times said that a three-person landscaping crew would need to carry 30 to 40 fully charged batteries to power its equipment during a full day’s work.”

I use a battery-powered leaf blower for my own residential use. The batteries typically last about 15-20 minutes on a full charge. A full charge takes about an hour to get from a ‘dead’ lithium battery.

Also, my battery-powered leaf blower has about half of the power / capacity of my dad’s traditional gas-powered one. And his probably has about half of what the landscaping pro’s use, with the backpack motors and the flexible handheld air-cannon hoses.

It’s a similar situation with my battery-powered trimmer, compared to a gas one, compared to a professional one.

Their estimate on batteries might be low, honestly.

[Longtobefree]

Buy a new battery, they aren’t expected to last forever.
I can do my whole (small) yard, string trimer, hedge trimer, and blower on about a half charge of one battery. I replaced the original battery after 3 years.

[Minadin]

They’re actually pretty new.

[mad.casual]

Also, since the days of 8V lithium, I’ve preferred either corded electric, hand, or gas power as every 12, 18, 20, 24+V device operated on a wonky Gillette Model where the mechanical device cost $X and the battery cost $1.5X. On sale, I could buy 2-3 whole devices cheaper than I could buy 3 batteries to power the device “continuously”. A corded device, extension cord, and even a generator were frequently comparably priced over their relative lives.

The latter being the exact direction I would expect this to go. Even with battery-powered leafblowers, nobody’s going to buy a metric ton of batteries or shuttle them back and forth to the main office. And no cities or businesses are going to have extension cords running out their doors to the park across the street. So, every grounds crew is going to have a covered trailer or a truck with a generator running to keep the batteries charged and the tools powered and just incur the massive loss incurred charging the batteries rather than powering the device(s) more directly.

[sarcasmic]

Generators are internal combustion engines and banned by the new law.

[Minadin]

Generators aren’t landscaping equipment.

“Shill tells Reason that because the general subject of the city’s ordinance concerns the regulation of landscaping equipment, the legal principle of “ejusdem generis” means that catchall phrase about “internal combustion engines” shouldn’t be interpreted as limiting the use of literally all gas-powered engines in the city.” (Emphasis mine)

[sarcasmic]

Right. They said that so as to not include cars. But if generators are being used to charge up the landscaping equipment, that makes them part of the kit doesn’t it? And if so, wouldn’t that make them prohibited?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Probably not. If the devices that run off the generator change the definition of the generator, then lawmakers are even more mendacious than I ever thought.

[Sometimes a Great Notion]

Welcome to DC.

[sarcasmic]

All kinds of things change definition (and incur criminal charges) depending upon how they are being used. If you’re walking around with a cane but it wasn’t recommended by your doctor then it could be called a weapon and land you in jail. If you’re walking around at night with some tools in your backpack they could be called burglary implements and land you in jail. If a cop jumps in front of your car it has now become a deadly weapon and you’re going to jail (if they don’t kill you).

[mad.casual]

Washington, D.C., rang in the new year by implementing a prohibition on gas-powered leaf blowers that the city had passed in 2018. Beginning January 1, landscaping companies and individual lawn care enthusiasts alike are now subject to $500 fines for using gas-powered blowers in the city.

Just a few weeks prior, the California Air Resources Board (CARB)—the state’s primary air pollution regulator—voted to ban the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers and lawnmowers beginning in 2024.

It’s really too bad they didn’t teach reading comprehension where you went to school because across two separate laws crafted in two separate places by two separate organizations, mentioned in two separate paragraphs, they explicitly mention multiple gas-powered devices which specifically don’t encompass generators.

[sarcasmic]

Nothing specifically excluded anything.

[mad.casual]

I stand by my assessment of your reading comprehension. Nobody said excluded.

[Zeb]

Yeah, that’s always the problem with cordless tools. When the batteries wear out, you just buy a new tool because it costs as much as 2 new batteries.

[migrant log picker]

Illegal landscaping crews hardest hit. Why do all these Democrat pols hate Mexicans?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Your batter-powered future will be as bright as a 40 watt lightbulb.

[Jerry B.]

Hence the need for more illegal immigration. Otherwise, who’s going to rake up all those leaves?

[Chumby]

Not every juan wants to do manuel labor.

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

¡Olé!

[Longtobefree]

Consider this:
Either God or Mother Nature (your choice) put the leaves on the trees to give us shade in the summer, and drops them off the trees to allow the sun to warm us in the winter, and to keep the ground warm. Moving those leaves, by rakes or power, is not a natural act. When the leaves need to move, either God or mother nature will send the wind to do the job.

[Zeb]

That’s my approach. Fortunately, each fall the good lord sees fit to orient the wind in such a way that the leaves nearly all blow off of my lawn.

[Eeyore]

I let my leaves rot in the dirt that I provide. Just ban yard work already. Make grass a crime.

[NoVaNick]

I heard some reports of leaf blowers being used to disperse tear gas at BLM protests, I assume battery powered ones wouldn’t be up to that task.

[Chumby]

Mowing also works. And it keeps the grass height low. At the same time.

Leaf blowers do a good job of moving stuff on your lawn onto the neighbor’s lawn or the street. #suburbia

[NoVaNick]

I borrowed my neighbor’s electric leaf blower once and wasn’t impressed, the wind blew the leaves right back into our yard

[Chumby]

Aim downwind.

[Its_Not_Inevitable]

Turn your house around.

[JohnZ]

First, it’s leaf blower and lawn mowers Then its gas powered chain saws, then gas powered garden tillers, then motorcycles, then…..
That is if you are even allowed your own personal mobility vehicle. In the cities, of course you will not. Cars will become illegal as well as motorized bikes; anything that allows any form of personal freedom will be stomped into the ground.
The Biden administration’s war on oil is a war on Americans and their freedom.
So how are you going to plow a 40 acre field with a battery powered tractor? Or move tons of earth or power an airplane? The people behind all this are short sighted and foolish.

[NoVaNick]

Ever hear of 40 acres and a mule? There ya go!

[soldiermedic76]

40 acres? Fucking hobby farm.

[Idaho Bob]

I have a cousin near Lake Tahoe. They’ve been buried in snow for awhile and without power. They have a fireplace, but wood fires were banned some time ago. She cheered the ban on social media because “you don’t NEED wood to heat a modern home”.

Shortsighted, indeed.

[Eeyore]

People I know I’m Tahoe during the outage went ahead and burned wood.

[Number 2]

Fear not. 40 years from now, we will be told that bans on gasoline powered leaf blowers are inherently racist, constitute a micro aggression against oppressed peoples, and are a tool of white supremacy. And NPR will be running stories about how gas powered leaf blower bans are disproportionately enforced against minorities and women.

[Eeyore]

Batteries are a tool of racism.

[NoVaNick]

Am still waiting for them to admit that banning menthol cigarettes is racist

[mad.casual]

Shill tells Reason…

Heh. “Pot tells kettle…”

[JSmith]

Get an electric leaf blower, and attach a miniature air raid siren to the motor shaft…

[Chumby]

Or a horn of Jericho.

[Brian]

Obligatory: https://youtu.be/6KBSCNeMUrk

[Unforgettably Forgettable]

Or attach a car muffler to a gas powered blower.

[rbike]

Bought a $99 40volt rechargeable weed whacker to replace a 4 stroke unit that often refused to start. Never happier. It always starts. Not nearly as powerful but far fewer headaches.

[Zeb]

What fun is lawn equipment if you never need to take carburetors apart?

[JohnZ]

Just watch a few videos of Mustie…learn how to clean and service a carburetor.

[mtrueman]

Isn’t the removal of leaves the responsibility of the owner of the trees from which the leaves have fallen?

[Longtobefree]

I suspect, on some level, your talking about responsibility is racist, or sexist, or something. Who can own a tree? The shade and leaves belong to us all, right?

[Unicorn Abattoir]

The maples want the oak trees to check their privilege.

[mtrueman]

you’re

[Joe Brandon]

fuk ouf!

[Chumby]

Someone wood have to pine about this…

[Unicorn Abattoir]

It left him in a larch.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

We all know where this thread is going to end up. The Lumberjack Song.

[Chumby]

Without the link we all would be stumped.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

I didn’t want to leave you stuck out on a limb.

[Entelechy]

CHRISTIAN SHOULD REPUBLISH THIS IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO SHOUT TO BE HEARD OVER THE RACKET OF THE LEAF BLOWERS.

No matter how hard you try to spin it as part of the war on fossil fuel, the issue is noise pollution, not air quality.

[Idaho Bob]

From the article you didn’t read:

“SACRAMENTO – The California Air Resources Board today approved a measure that will require most newly manufactured small off-road engines such as those found in leaf blowers, lawn mowers and other equipment be zero emission starting in 2024. Portable generators, including those in recreational vehicles, would be required to meet more stringent standards in 2024 and meet zero-emission standards starting in 2028.”

[Unicorn Abattoir]

Take Princeton, New Jersey. In October 2021, the city passed an ordinance banning the use of “noise-creating gas-powered equipment, blowers, power fans or internal combustion engines”

[Chumby]

Someone needs to put on a concert with said musical instruments. Would be nice to take some 1A violation penalty money from the good folks of Princeton.

[JohnZ]

In Trenton, Michigan there was a small group running R/C boats in a local pond. Someone complained about all the noise from the engines (glow) so one of the group went around measuring the audio levels of leaf blowers which were twice as loud. Didn’t work though, they were kicked out anyway.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

You can pull my gas-powered mower from my cold, dead hands.

[jdgalt1]

At least for leaf blowers, it’s about time. Besides, a push broom is easier to use and weighs less.

[Minadin]

Push brooms tend to get hung up on the grass in my lawn.

[Zeb]

Try a rake. Leaf blowers are silly. You still have to pick up all the leaves. Leaf vacuums are what you need.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

I find not doing anything about it to be particularly effective.

[Zeb]

That does work for me as well. But depends a lot on your local topography.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

I live in a wooded area. We have leaf collection, but it all seems unnecessary to me.

[mad.casual]

In town, the leaves get blown into the gutter during the day and then, at a time best described as “KGB Hour”, I hear the street sweeper make the rounds. Makes it harder to hear my music, ban street sweepers.

[Eeyore]

Pol Pot approves.

[Gmon]

Enforcement of this new law should be interesting. The city is apparently going to encourage citizens to inform upon each other, which should Foster Amicable relations. Take a look at the city website for more information.

[Chumby]

Communities should stihl their resolve against these draconian restrictions.

[Rick]

DC’s law prevents me from using my private property for a supposed public benefit. This is a taking without compensation and is, therefore, a violation of the Constitution. REASON – do you know anyone that would file a class action lawsuit seeking compensation?

[Lester224]

There were several huge and ongoing threads about this issue in my ‘Nextdoor’ app. It was the environmentalists + people working from home vs. the landscapers who get paid for getting rid of leaves as fast as possible.

We use a battery-run mulching mower, and only do it twice, not weekly. The mower is not as noisy as those gas leaf blowers, and is less stinky. Doesn’t clear the lawn perfectly but we’re the sort who can deal with imperfect lawns.

[Stuck in California]

It’s not the noise I give a shit about, though the noise sure is obnoxious.

It’s what they’re actually doing. They use blowers for EVERYTHING here. Never leaves. They blow the dirt off the sidewalks with them — and right on to my car. I once had a car detailed while I was at work. The landscapers were there WHILE THE GUY WAS WASHING IT and as soon as he was gone went to town on the driveway with the leaf blower and blasted all the dirt all over my freshly washed truck.

It also gets all over the outside of the building windows, and all over everything else. But… the sidewalk looks clean! Anyone using leaf blowers around here, where we don’t have trees dropping leaves to blow, is just an asshole doing it because that’s what all the other asshole gardeners do. Not because it’s a good thing to do.

Fuck them. Use a broom on the sidewalk.

That said, the laws are stupid, micromanagey shit that never should be passed.

[JohnZ]

The ordnance doesn’t cover pulse jets….just sayin’.

[mad.casual]

I like the cut of your jib.

Muzzle-loading cannons, especially small replicas, are not considered “firearms” or “destructive devices” under federal regulations…. just echoing (amplifying?) Diane Reynolds “cold, dead hands” sentiment.

[Unforgettably Forgettable]

John Denver : “…I’m leafing on a jet plane”

[Naime Bond]

The landscapers should just go out and buy a $75,000 TESLA and reconfigure it and use that to power their electric blowers. Pro Blame Oh solved. We always put out inexpensive and reusable large tarps on the ground, raked the leaves onto them and hauled to the street and then the town comes by. (I don’t recall many fat people living on our block or recall hearing the roar of blowers. I do remember observing a bunch of adults taking breaks, and actually talking to one another in a civil tone, even when they disagreed. I still don’t understand how the lawns and sidewalks covered with snow got so clean without the need for 20 million illegals).

[Wysiwig]

The bitch of it is this is all done to reduce “carbon footprints” and CO2. Reading between the lines, 99.5% of all lifeforms on the earth today are carbon based. CO2 is plant food, without it all life dies. So what is their real objective…..

[Robes Pierre]

Long overdue. I own my house so that I can use it to live in. Too often, I can’t carry on a conversation with my own son in my own house due to the noise of someone running their insanely loud power blowers and mowers. I have a right to the enjoyment and use of my own home.
If it costs more to hire people to manicure your unused, non-functional lawn, great, maybe less people will waste money doing it and leave me in peace.